Apr 22 2009
Eastern Marketing
I’ve been reading a little too much eastern philosophy for dummies (e.g. The Celestine Prophecy
One of the major points of the book is that we as a society are trying to find a peace on this earth by developing a true connectedness with the outside world. We are not beings unto ourselves; rather, we are individuals with the opportunity to develop a relationship with the outside world. The more fulfilling and positive the relationship, the better we are able to develop.
In a marketing sense, the relationship we develop with brands is a by-product of that drive to be in touch with the world outside of the self. Marketing campaigns are centered around the idea. When Justin Long says, “Hello, I’m a Mac” and John Hodgeman, “And I’m a P.C.,” it’s an attempt by the advertising agency to project an identity onto the customer. When we by the computer, we “become” the computer (or at least see ourselves in the image of the images).
Marketers can use this identity creation process as positive image, negative image or one with no consequence (the category most brands fall in, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing). With a little bit of ethics, I think that we can use the idea of “I’m a ____” in a good way.
That’s all for now. Email is still brian@brianfeener.com.
